Animal Use

Projects that will utilize live vertebrate animals must utilize them in accordance to protocols reviewed and approved by UW’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). The use of live vertebrate animals may not begin without specific IACUC approval. The procurement of live vertebrate animals for research requires an IACUC-approved protocol. If IACUC approval of the specific research project has not been obtained in the Plan/Propose or Setup stages, then it must be obtained at this stage.

  Roles

• The Principal Investigator (PI)  is responsible for all aspects of the research project, including the appropriate use of animals.
• All research team members are responsible for understanding and following procedures in the IACUC-approved protocol, relevant to their roles on the project. This includes knowing and certifying that they have received the relevant required animal use training.
• UW’s Office of Animal Welfare (OAW) is responsible for reviewing and approving protocols and is available to provide guidance on the appropriate use of animals in research.
• UW’s Department of Comparative Medicine is responsible for the procurement, housing, care, and disposal of animals according to all applicable regulations.

  Plan/Act

• If IACUC approval has been obtained for the work in this project, procurement of animals may begin.
• If IACUC approval has not been obtained for the work in this project, determine where in the approval process the protocol is and take all remaining steps necessary for approval.
• If any members of the research team who will be handling animals have not received requisite training, they need to do so before they begin working with the animals.

Checklist

• IACUC approval for this specific project
• Requisite training for all team members